Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law

FILE – This March 23, 2010 file photo shows Ttwenty two pens next to President Barack Obama as he signs the health care reform bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It’s a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obamaâ™s health overhaul. The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest company health plans, and much of that is likely to be passed on to employees. Multiple pens are used to sign legislation, and then distributed to supporters of the legislation. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE – This March 23, 2010 file photo shows Ttwenty two pens next to President Barack Obama as he signs the health care reform bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It’s a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obamaâ™s health overhaul. The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest company health plans, and much of that is likely to be passed on to employees. Multiple pens are used to sign legislation, and then distributed to supporters of the legislation. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) â” Your medical plan is facing an unexpected new fee. It’s to help cover people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Employers are not happy. The cost of compliance works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, maybe a few hundred for small firms. Most of that will get passed on to workers.

The Obama administration says the money will cushion health insurance companies from the hard-to-predict costs of covering uninsured people with pre-existing conditions, so society will benefit in the long run.

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